So there I am, hauling the mail across country in our long-term Hyundai Genesis V-8, four up, when we enter Nevada. I tell my long-suffering wife Jane that the sensible thing to do when we are driving out west is peg the cruise at just under 90 mph—15 over—don’t weave and make ourselves conspicuous, and we will be golden. That is, no tickets.

Some time later, I’m cruising a little bit faster than that, working on the basis that I’m paying so much attention that I’m bound to spot any cop on the horizon way before their radar goes instant-on and zaps me.

Then, the phone call comes through. My phone is hooked up to the Genesis’s excellent hands-free system, but when you’re on the phone and driving, your attention is divided. On the phone, I didn’t really notice the black Charger coming the other way, but the radar detector did. If I had been totally involved in the act of driving, the near-100-mph speed would have bled off as soon as I saw a suspicious looking vehicle coming the other way; on the phone, I just wasn’t paying attention.

When I told a friend that I got nailed in Nevada, his instant assumption was: “Can’t you run 120 there all day?” Maybe so, but only if you’re really on the ball. If you’re taking a phone call, you aren’t paying as much attention to the road as you should. What happens if you don’t see the deer bounding across the freeway and it hits the car? Or the semi that sheds a wheel coming the other way?

No matter how good you think you are, a moment’s inattention can cost you and your passengers their lives. Luckily for me, all my lack of attention cost me was a big speeding ticket.